Toronto Nightlife Tips by kymbanm

Nightlife Spot: A Subterranian Pub

5th time's the charm?

After dropping my bags at the hotel, we were to meet up somewhere in town. We were directed to the area near the place we had dinner. Our directions were 'go to the pub on the corner, we're downstairs' ...... try as we might, none of the pubs we entered even HAD a downstairs! So Saucey was dispatched to the curb to flag us down ........ believe me, had she not been there, we would have missed this little treasure ....

PJ O'Brien's pub is in the basement of the old Flatiron Building. This oddly shaped creation fills an oddly shaped corner lot near Church/Yonge/Front/Wellington intersection. Built in 1892, it has had many names, and many uses. Today it houses food houses and offices. The pub itself is in the basement - and reached from the pointy corner of the building down a curved set of stairs.Watch the doorstep though - it's hidden in the shadows :)

Upon entering, you are surrounded by dark, rich, pub-like decor, Friendly staff, and slightly drunken patrons (also friendly). This seems to be more of a locals hangout than a tourist spot - just right for our extended VT family :) We managed to kill enough time here to close the place down. We missed the live entertainment, but that was okay, we brought our own :)

I wrote this thinking it's name was PJ O'Brien's Pub, but I got an email today that it's actually Firkin at Flatiron. I'm not sure which one is correct since I don't live in TO. BUT just in case, I wanted to let you folks know the name(s). Regardless of the title, the pub is wonderful!

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Theme: Eating and Drinking
Phone: 416-815-7562
Address: 39 Colburne St
Website: http://www.pjobrien.com/pjob/home.html

Nightlife Spot: The Irish Embassy

After our VT brunch, spgood and I set off the explore while waiting for Saucey to come to and join us .... we wandered the financial district and into the entertainment district by the time we received our summons to join her and shoman at the Irish Embassy. My first thought - "is it a REAL embassy? or is it a pub?" spgood let me know it was a pub (of course, why did I even ask?) So we set off back into the financial district!

A short walk later we were there ...... Shoman was watching a game, and nursing a Guiness. Saucey was happily munching on a traditional Irish Breakfast (complete w/ a little bit of blood sausage) with her Guiness. We visited there for a while, then decided the boys could stay and watch American Football while we wandered about town. The location of this pub made this totally workable for all of us :)

Upon our return, the boys were happily game watching, drinking and holding our original places at the bar ...... after another bit of a visit, we set off across town again.

During our time here, the bartender was helpful, friendly, and kind.... he didn't even make fun of me for being too short to easily get up and down from the barstool.

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Theme: Eating and Drinking
Phone: 416-866-8282
Address: 49 Yonge St
Directions: At Yonge and Wellington ....... across from the King subway station :)
Website: http://www.pjobrien.com/irish/home.html